Locked-down France posts record drop in manufacturing in April: PMI

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FILE PHOTO: An employee wearing a protective mask works at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing France plant as it resumes its operations after five weeks of closure during a lockdown amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Onnaing, France, April 21, 2020. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

PARIS (Reuters) - French manufacturing activity plunged into its deepest recession on record in April as the euro zone’s second-biggest economy contracted further during its coronavirus lockdown, a survey showed on Monday.

Data compiler IHS Markit said its final purchasing managers’ index dropped to 31.5 in April from 43.2 in March, in line with a preliminary reading.

The freefall plunged the index to its lowest level since records began in 1998, far below the 50-point line dividing expansions in activity from contractions.

France has been under lockdown orders banning non-essential activities since mid-March. The prospect of a gradual unwinding from May 11 is offering little relief to firms expecting a long slog back to work.